In 2003 the Legion launched its Legion in the Community (LIC) programme at branch and county levels to give new opportunities for everyone to get involved in Legion work within their local communities. The aims are to raise public awareness of what the Legion does in local communities, to promote the Legion as an active membership organisation, and to invite local people to get involved with welfare and membership activities of the Legion.
Town Activities
The Royal British Legion in Stamford is one the largest social groups in the town. The Branch of course plays the lead role in organising the Remembrance Parade and Service, creates the Garden of Remembrance each year, and arranges the observance of the Two-Minute Silence on Armistice Day.
Legion members lead the Mayor's Parade
But Stamford Branch is active in the wider local community calendar throughout the year. Over the years Stamford Branch has played a full role in, for example, the annual Stamford Summer and Christmas Festivals, the Mayor’s Civic Parade, the Wings Appeal and Battle of Britain Service and Parade, the Edith Weston Vintage Fayre, Operation Market Garden 2008 at Spanhoe, and other local WWII vintage events, and the homecoming Parades of 3 Squadron, RAF Regiment and 2 Battalion, the Anglian Regiment from Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2008/2009 the Branch led a civic programme of sending comfort parcels to the troops in Afghanistan and it continues to play an active role in the ‘Honour the Covenant’ campaign.
The Branch works closely with other former ex-Service groups in Stamford at every level, recently in the refurbishment of the War Memorial and the installation there of public seating.
Stamford Branch enjoys close links with the town’s schools and youth groups, as set out in the section on Youth and Schools.
Stamford Christmas Tree Festival
For many years Stamford Branch has contributed to the town’s Annual Christmas Tree Festival in St John’s Church., Over the years their themes have included: 60the Anniversary of the end of WWII, Peace in our Time, the Centenary of WWI, etc
In 2022 their theme was the many conflicts involving the British Armed Forces during the reign of HM the Queen Elizabeth II and the support which the Royal British Legion gave them during that period.
A 2022 Branch entry into the town's annual Christmas Tree Festival
Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
The Stamford Branch of the Royal British Legion was nominated for a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in both 2008 and 2009 for their welfare and other general beneficial work. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the voluntary sector equivalent of an MBE and only 70 are issued each year. The Branch was one of only five groups who had been nominated from the whole of Lincolnshire for their charitable works.
The then Chairman & Lady of Lincolnshire County Council, Councillor Ian Cartwright MBE and Mrs Elizabeth Cartwright, kindly hosted a reception on 16 April 2009 in the Judge’s Lodgings in Castle Square, Lincoln for the nominated groups.
Four members of the Branch attended the function: John Copeland (Branch Chairman), Derek Gladman (Branch President), Hugh Mc Neill (Branch Welfare Chairman)and Steve Bonde (Branch Secretary). Also at the reception were Tony Worth (County Lord Lieutenant), AVM Peter Dodworth (Dep Lord Lieutenant), and the Lady Sarah McCorquodale (High Sheriff of Lincolnshire).
Stamford Can Belto Choir
This unruly lot ran riot in Stamford and on nearby military bases singing Christmas carols in 2003. A unique feature was their ability to sing every carol to the same tune. There was never a dry eye in the house whenever we belted out Hark The Herald Angels Sing for the umpteenth time.
Here you see Ray Beresford, John Copeland, Joyce Burton, Shaun Arthur, John and Beryl Ingham, Marian Freeman, Derek Burton, Roy Prentice and Steve Bonde bringing tears to the eyes of the members of the Sergeants’ Mess at St George’s Barracks in 2011. It is their proud boast that they were never knowingly invited back!
Carols at Tixover
Eight of us accepted the kind invitation from Tixover Grange to join them for their Carol Service on 22 December 2011. It was a lovely event - a real Service of carols and readings in which we and the residents all joined in together.
It is nice to see the effect visitors have on the residents who, for one reason or another, spend so much time in the same environment and with the same people. No doubt some of us will be in that situation one day.
The highlight of the event - for us, if not for the residents - was when we Stamford members re-formed the Stamford Legion Can Belto Choir (above) for an impromptu belting out of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. We actually got a round of applause afterwards, but I am sure that I saw most of them also putting their hearing aids back in!
How to get involved
If you would like to get involved in any of the Legion in the Community activities, you can! We are always looking for new members and volunteers to get involved in our fundraising and welfare work. The Royal British Legion is an active membership organisation and, whether you are Serving, ex-Service or have no links with the Armed Forces family, always gives new members and volunteers a warm and friendly welcome. But you do not have to become a member in order to help. There are many ways in which people become involved - to help with the Poppy Appeal each year, to help develop the Legion's links with young people, to help organize or just take part in the Branch social activities, to become a welfare caseworker, or simply to look out for and alert the Branch to any difficulties facing members of the Serving or ex-Service community.
For more details on how to get involved in Stamford, please contact Rob Bidwell-Bonde, Branch Secretary, on 01780 763675 or robert.bidwell-bonde@gmail.com
For more details on how to get involved in Stamford, please contact: Jim Jackson, Poppy Appeal Organiser, on 01780 765093 or jimmycjackson@hotmail.com
